They sound pretty good! Never heard of them, which is a bit surprising as I try to keep up on all the Chi-gaze bands. Nice that Chicago is a hot spot of Shoegaze activity now-a-days. :)
I never had anything by Hum, I remember plotting to 'permanently borrow' the You'd Prefer an Astronaut cd from a friend, but that never really materialized. Remembering that makes me feel old now haha
I've heard of a few of those bands before, but the others I haven't I'll check out. I just discovered maikotobranco, they're pretty good. I can't really help you out on the drummer part, I'm in the northeast ;)